During their two years with the Washington men’s basketball team, Franck Kepnang and Braxton Meah formed an intriguing – and sometimes imposing – duo at center whose promise far exceeded their production largely due to injuries to Kepnang and Meah’s inconsistency.
On Monday night, Kepnang announced his return to the Huskies via a video on social media platform X that included a caption that read, “I’m locked in. Come on guys!”
The next day, Meah posted on Instagram that he was headed to Nebraska, which included photos of him wearing a No. 34 Cornhuskers jersey.
In the span of a few hours, the Husky big men became former teammates and Big Ten rivals looking to resurrect their stellar careers.
Both arrived in Washington in 2022 and Meah, who previously played two years at Fresno State, proved much more durable missing just one game during his 64-game tenure with Husky. He averaged 7.0 points, 6.2 rebounds and 1.2 blocks while shooting 72.9% from the field for Washington.
A year ago, the 7-foot-1, 250-pound Meah was considered a fringe NBA draft prospect after a stellar junior year in which he posted career highs in points (8 .8 per game), rebounds (7.2), blocks (1.6) and minutes (27.3) while making 31 starts and earning All-Pac-12 Defensive Team honors.
Meah regressed last season averaging 5.3 points, 5.3 rebounds and 16.9 minutes in 16 starts. In the last three games, he has only four points and seven rebounds.
The sample size is much smaller, but Kepnang had a bigger impact when he was able to step on the field. The 6-11 center, who played two years at Oregon, averaged 8.6 points, 6.1 rebounds and 1.8 blocks while shooting 56.1 percent from the floor with the Huskies.
Kepnang struggles to stay healthy.
He has played in just 18 games and missed 46 over the past two seasons due to right knee injuries. On December 1, 2022, he tore his right anterior cruciate ligament and sat out the remainder of the season.
And on December 17, 2023, Kepnang injured his right knee again and did not play again last season.
“Everything is on track as far as me and my recovery,” Kepnang said last month. “I expect to be back on the field this summer and ready to go for the start of camp.”
Kepnang is the first UW player, who was on the roster last season, to announce his return.
It remains to be seen whether attackers Wilhelm Breidenbach, Christian King and Samuel Ariyibi will return. The deadline to enter the transfer portal is Wednesday.
Four Huskies have entered the portal, including Koren Johnson, who is headed to Louisville, while Wesley Yates III and Nate Calmese are undecided.
Note
The Huskies have officially signed Butler transfer DJ Davis who joins Rice guard Mekhi Mason and four-star recruit Zoom Diallo. UW also has a commitment from touted high school prospect Jase Butler.
